Merry Christmas and 10 Months (late of course)!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoyed some time off! We had a wonderful Christmas. It was so fun to watch Hayden, even though he doesn't quite get it. He is loving all his new toys though!

I have a good excuse for not blogging in a while. Hayden is finally mobile. For those of you who know me pretty well, you know that the this "not crawling" thing was really bothering me. It shouldn't, but it did. I just wanted to be sure he could move. Well, he can. He started crawling 3 days before his 10 month "birthday." He is into everything. Everything dangerous that is. He likes to shake his high chair, reach for (covered) light sockets, and pull open drawers on the TV stand. We're practicing the word "no." He also tries to crawl in the bathtub, which is funny/dangerous as well.

Hayden is also eating all kinds of table food now. At school he eats the "school lunch." I think it's hilarious that a daycare has a lunch menu, but they do. Everyday I get a note about what Hayden ate for school lunch. The only thing he hasn't liked so far is beef stroganoff. Can't say I blame him. Hayden is also developing a little bit of a 'tude. Like, I'm going to cry when you take a toy/dangerous object away from me type of 'tude. No son, we're not going to allow you to jam that ink pen down your throat. Sorry, we're so strict.

He has no stranger anxiety whatsoever. That's a good and bad thing, I guess. I like it because he'll let any of our friends hold him without complaint. This can be dangerous because I could totally see him leaving with a stranger. At restaurants he'll stare at people at other tables and flirt with them. It's ridiculous.

Okay, enough words, how about some pics!

Hayden in front of our tree, pre-mobility. Sam was peeking in the picture.

H and his girlfriend, Edie. We're excited about her first birthday party which is coming up soon! Edie was one of H's first visitors in the hospital -- we think they're going to love each other forever.

Hayden on Christmas Eve with one of his first Christmas presents from his Aunt BeBe. He likes it!

More present opening. Boxes are awesome!

Clark and Hayden on Christmas Day ... hat by Dawn Ferguson!

The cuteness speaks for itself.

More presents at Aunt Katy's!

Hayden got another surprise at Christmas -- a new tooth. Grand total is now 5...working on the 6th, I think.

My New Year's Resolution is take more pictures of Hayden and be a better blogger. Okay, not really, but in 2010, I will try to update more than once a month!!

9 Months!

Isn't he so happy? Here are his stats:

Weight: 20lbs, 6 oz (50th percentile)

Height: 28 7/8" (75th percentile)

Head: 18" (50th percentile)

Illness du jour: ear infection and bronchiolitis.

Teeth: 4

As much as I love Hayden's school, the definite downfall of daycare is constant sickness. We're a revolving door of runny noses and coughs and ear infections. Once we finally get over one, we have a week or 2 illness free and then another pops up. Luckily, none of these illnesses come with fevers and none of them have really affected his mood any. We got a breathing treatment in the office which Hayden hated. Actually, hated is not strong enough of a word. Loathe may suffice. He cried so hard he worked up a sweat. It was very sad. Fortunately the breathing treatment did its job and Hayden sounded 1000x time better. Unfortunately that means we get our very own (oh yippee) breathing treatment machine and we get to give it to him 3 times a day. It's about as much fun as getting kicked in the face. Repeatedly. With steel toed boots.

We also discussed my child's stubborn refusal to crawl with the doctor. No one else (including Dr. V) thinks this is an issue at all. It's amazing the lengths he will go to not to crawl. He leans completely over at the waist and literally drags himself (inch by excruciating inch) to what he wants to reach. He gets up on all fours and rocks, then lays flat on his belly. It's ridiculous. He's the laziest kid ever! However, I'm kind of pleased because this does prove he's my kid. I mean, I don't exert myself at anything either. Dr. V says some kids never crawl and just hop up and walk. We'll see if that happens.

Hayden is eating all kinds of table food. Here is his first Thanksgiving feast:

I am personally grossed out by cranberry sauce, but Hayden seemed to like it.

Here's the man after he's cleared his plate:

In true East Texas fashion, Hayden went shirtless to Thanksgiving dinner. We figured it was safer.

Proving I have NO control in my house this is what Hayden wore on Thanksgiving day:

I think Hayden may be a Cowboys fan and there isn't a lot I can do about it. I put my foot down at supporting A&M though. If he wants to go to school there, he can pay for it himself (kidding....kind of). Good thing I'm worried about what college he's going to go to considering he isn't even mobile yet.

Truly, Hayden is the most laid back kid of all time and is almost always happy (traits that he clearly inherited from his father). I have to say that he's the coolest kid around and he constantly makes us smile. We are so blessed!

Sneak Peek

Official 9 month post to come next week (after the doc appt)...also, Thanksgiving post to come as well. In the meantime...

Check out my chompers...

And my sweet face...

Or, how about the new skill I'm still trying to master....

Or my look of pre-Thanksgiving anticipation....

Happy Halloween!

Hayden's first Halloween was action packed! We started the weekend off right with Trunk or Treat at Hayden's school. Since Hayden isn't so much into candy yet, we just volunteered to pass candy out. Hayden helped.

Well, he's trying to be into candy, but at this phase in his life he looks at everything like that before sticking it in his mouth.

On Halloween day we went to the Yocum's for a Costume party/Hot dog cook-out. It was so fun to see all the sweet babies dressed up. Plus, Hayden finally got to meet James (the spider). Hayden was a little jealous because James put the moves on Maggie a couple of times, but he's being really mature about it. He said he's too young to settle down anyway and that it's better to "play the field." I'm sure Anna James will be pleased to hear that. Watch out ladies!

It was pretty difficult to get all the kids looking and in one picture. When I say pretty difficult, I mean impossible.

I just love this picture. Hayden grabs anything and everything these days and your child will be no exception. He wanted to touch James' face, the sweet Lamb costume, even Libby's princess dress (not pictured). They're all so fascinated with each other!

We tried to get some pics of everyone in their adorable pumpkin hats, but when you have 2 mobile toddlers that's just not always (or ever) going to happen.

This weekend I was grateful that Hayden isn't mobile yet. That's right, he's 8 months old and not crawling. I wish I could tell you that he's thisclose to doing so, but he's really not. We'll put him on his stomach and he'll sort of rock and stretch out as far as he can to reach stuff, but after a few attempts he starts to rub his eyes and pout. While sitting up he'll lean over to the point where his nose is on the ground, but he just isn't really that interested in moving. He scoots on his bottom a lot, but that's about it. He just hasn't put it all together yet. Of course, this has caused me all kinds of anxiety. (An aside: I wonder what would happen if you searched the word "anxiety" on this blog. It would probably explode from over-work). I know all kids are individuals and blah blah blah, but I feel like every kid is crawling except mine. Well, after watching all my dear friends chase their lovely kids around this weekend I sent up a little "thank you" that I can set Hayden down and he just sits there. And yes, I realize my days are numbered in the whole "not mobile" stage and I'll be eating these words shortly. Especially since I've totally jinxed it by writing it all down.

Hayden's fun filled day wasn't over. After leaving the Yocum's, Aunt Katy and Uncle Win came to babysit while Mom and Dad went to an adult Halloween party with adult beverages. Yay! Hayden told us to tell Aunt Katy and Uncle Win he's sorry for the spit up incident but he had a lot of fun!

Baylor Homecoming...Sic Em!

This weekend was Baylor Homecoming. As I'm sure most of you have gathered, Baylor is very important to Clark and me. It's where we met and we both genuinely love the school. We've been so excited to take Hayden to Baylor Homecoming since we found out we were pregnant. We were so excited, that I had to have a dress rehearsal on Friday and dress Hayden appropriately for school. Don't you just love the hat? Another Dawn Ferguson creation!

I was a little nervous about going. Our first Baylor football game was not a success on any level. Hayden was miserable, Baylor was terrible, I got mad, and we left early. So, I wasn't sure how great this weekend was going to go. Plus, as I briefly mentioned earlier, Hayden's top teeth have been coming in and we had a hard week dealing with it. Please don't be fooled by the angelic smile on his face in the above picture. Our week has been marked by uncontrollable screaming. Regardless, both teeth have broken the gums now, so I figured we were okay. Well, that and I have no qualms about dosing this kid up liberally with Tylenol and teething tablets. Don't judge.

We met Jason and Kassidy in Waco on Friday night and had dinner at one of my favorite Waco places -- Ninfas. There are other Ninfas around, but they're all terrible for some reason. The one in Waco is outstanding. Of course, one of my other favorite Waco places is George's...but I didn't think it was appropriate to roll into town and take Hayden straight to a bar. We need to pace ourselves.

On Saturday morning, we went to the Baylor Homecoming Parade, which is one of our favorite Baylor traditions. Campus groups make floats and the bears make an appearance. Hayden liked it, we think...

It was slightly chilly at the parade, so I bundled Hayden up like we were trekking across the Arctic.

Well, you know how Texans over react to "cold" weather... Hayden didn't seem to mind.

Like any respectable Baylor undergrad, Hayden took a time out with Mom outside of the Sub for a bottle break...

Clark tried to give Hayden a better view of the parade from his shoulders....Hayden has a little more growing to do before this is an effective option.

After the parade, Clark wanted to walk through campus and take a picture of Hayden somewhere on campus. He wants us to make it a tradition for us to take Hayden's pic in the same spot every year so we can show him growing -- kind of like the chair pic, Baylor-style. We picked the statue of Judge Baylor across from Waco Hall. Hayden, had other ideas...

As you can tell, Hayden was PISSED by this time. The Judge Baylor photo-op came right in the middle of nap time. There's at least 5 other pictures showing Hayden in various stages of meltdown, but I'll spare you that.

The game went better for Hayden this time around, but not better for the Bears. Oh well. We still had fun! The bad news? I thought the teething pain was behind us, but today has been a rough one on Hayden's gums. Wish us luck!

8 months

I've been a slacker in the blog department -- but I have a legitimate excuse -- TEETHING. What a nightmare. I'm so done with teething. So, because most of month 7 involved in Hayden screaming over his new top teeth, I didn't snap a lot of pics. I went to my HS reunion last weekend and it was a blast. However, my camera battery died, so I have pics to prove it. This weekend is Baylor Homecoming, so there will be new pics to upload...plus a picture of Hayden in a brand new hat.

No Words...Just a Torn ACL

and to keep it Hayden related....Hayden now knows what it feels like to be a Baylor fan. Welcome to the real world, Son.

Daycare Faux Pas and Other Shenanigans at the Meador House

Well, I made an ass out of myself at daycare this week. I find that in this whole motherhood thing, I make an ass out of myself on a fairly regular basis. Now, on to the daycare issue...

At daycare we're supposed to bring the bottles ready made in a ziploc freezer bag and put them in the infant fridge. At the end of the day, all the empty bottles are in the fridge in the ziploc bag. Of course, every bottle is labeled with Hayden's name as well as the ziploc bag itself. Simple, right? Well, not for me apparently. Hayden even has really cute stickers on his bottles with his name on them. One set of stickers has a monkey on them, the others have a lion and an elephant with a monkey riding on his back. Adorable. Also, distinguishable, which is the whole point. But I digress.

So, I pick Hayden up from daycare on Thursday and I'm a little tired out from the day and kind of spacey (not unusual). When I get there, Hayden is in his crib crying and one of the teachers is trying to soothe him. His teacher, Ms. J, tells me he was a little fussy today. Of course, that sends me into a tail spin of worry and I start babbling about how he acted a little weird last night and blah blah blah (which I'm sure is what Ms. J heard). An aside, maybe, one day I'll quit panicking like a total freakshow every time Hayden gets fussy or acts "weird" or runs an, ahem, "temp" of 100.2. Whatever. Back to me acting stupid. So, I'm all freaked out, Ms. J is looking at me like I've grown a second head and tells me I worry too much (no, really?! do you even know me?). I grab blindly into the fridge and pull out a ziploc freezer bag of Doctor Brown's bottles and get the hell out of there before I look like a bigger jackass than I already am. For those who are wondering, here's a Doctor Brown's bottle, unique, no?

I get home, still frazzled, waiting to tell Clark that Hayden was FUSSY at daycare, and wasn't I right about him acting weird? Well, I pull out the bag, and lo and behold, I had NATALIE'S bottles, not Hayden's. Did she have identical monkey stickers? Does Natalie's name look anything like Hayden's? No. Her Doctor Brown bottles had purple stickers that said Natalie all over her bottles. Purple. Not like they were hidden or anything. I felt so stupid. I called the daycare and asked if I could run them back. Of course, Natalie's dad had come and gone so it was too late. Hayden's bottles were still at daycare. I know I'm being dramatic about this, but I felt so terrible. Mainly, because if the situation were reversed, I would be so annoyed (which means I would have talked a lot of smack about the parent who took my bottles). I wouldn't go so far as to say mad, but extremely irritated. I'm a schedule person, so I wouldn't be able to wash Hayden's bottles or get everything ready in my usual order. Totally threw me off. Needless to say, I felt ridiculous. So, I wrote Natalie's mom a note and am praying I never see her because I'm an idiot.

What other shenanigans are going on with us? Not a lot, really. I've been asked a lot lately if Hayden can hold his own bottle. The answer is a resounding, no. I'm thinking he could if he wanted, but like his mother, if someone is willing to do it for him, why should he do it himself? Can't say I blame him. We went to the park yesterday and today. Hayden experienced the swing for the first time. Yesterday, he was uncertain. Today, the swings got a big thumbs up!

And to answer your question, yes, I almost had a panic attack when Clark sat Hayden on the edge of the bridge. Good Lord!

See, much happier today! Thanks to Auntie Ally and Hayden's girl Maggie for going to the park with us today. Here's the only pic I got of the two of them.

I think Hayden is checking her out. He's such a player.

7 Months!!

Happy 7 Month Birthday, Hayden! You look like such a BIG boy in that picutre! I can barely take it!

You may have noticed that there were no blog updates or pictures of this past weekend after Hayden's first trip to Waco. That would be because it was a DISASTER. Not only did the Bears choke big time, but Hayden was not exactly down with sitting still for 4 quarters of football. It is well documented that Hayden has been to many sporting events in his short life, so I really didn't think this would be an issue. Boy, was I wrong. By the end of the first half I was ready to pull my hair out and not quite up for taking a bunch of pictures. So, we'll just pretend that Homecoming is Hayden's first game and take some pictures there. Why would I take him to Homecoming, you ask? Well, we'll be staying the weekend and if things get bad we can always go back to the hotel room. Plus, there will be more helping hands around that weekend...so the burden won't fall on me to handle.

What is Hayden doing at 7 months? Well, it has also been well documented that Hayden is excellent at sitting up by himself. I feel pretty comfortable letting him sit by himself. Don't worry, I don't leave Hayden sitting on the floor while I run errands, but I'm comfortable leaving him playing on the floor while I cook or wash dishes (ha ha ha). Of course, we still have some accidents, and we've hit our cute face on the carpet at least once. Hayden will look at you when you say his name. Hayden passes toys from one hand to another and can lean over while sitting to reach his toys. We've tried an assortment of jarred baby meat combos...but the runaway favorite is apples and chicken. He loves to blow raspberries. He is still laughing at toot noises. He's in love with Sam and Sophie and tries to grab them all the time. He can stand up while holding onto the ottoman (he can't pull up, but if you leave him there standing, he can continue to stand).

I think that about covers it for achievements. Hopefully, I'll be better about taking pictures this week!

Enfamil Coma

This is your baby w/o Enfamil in their tummies:

Someone help! That poor baby is so starved he's trying to eat his mommy's face!

Solution . . .

Bath + 8 oz of Enfamil =

Enfamil Coma!!!!!

My Guys

Don't mind that Hayden is looking a little gangster with sagging pants. He heard that all the cool kids wear their pants low enough to show their underwear (diaper). He must have picked that up at daycare.

It was a long, rainy weekend so I don't have much to update. The NFL season officially kicked off this week...and Hayden watched his first Cowboys game. I'm going to go ahead and say it, I hate the Cowboys. There. I was raised better than to like that team. Unfortunately, Clark was raised differently than I was and he's a Cowboys' fan. So, Hayden sat in his exersaucer and watched the Cowboys beat Tampa Bay. He even lifted his hands up above his head and squealed when the Cowboys got a first down. I almost threw up, Clark almost wept with joy. We're not telling Grandpa, because we don't want Grandpa to disinherit Mommy OR Hayden.

We're also working on "practicing" crawling:

He looks like he's enjoying himself here...but he's not. He hates it. This kid hates all things associated with being on his tummy. He doesn't really know how to get up on his knees, but Clark thinks we can "condition" him. I say, let's just let that happen naturally.

As I mentioned before, Hayden also eats Saltine crackers and biter biscuits. Well, he gums them and I try not to have a panic attack while he does it. I don't know why, but I almost break out in hives whenever he has a cracker in his mouth. I just know he's going to choke on it. I hear you, the obvious answer is to NOT GIVE HIM THE CRACKER. I get it. However, how will he ever learn to eat if I don't let him practice?! Most of the time, he'll gag once or twice, and then be fine. Clark says it's because he's not used to having anything that far back on his tongue and that he'll get used to it. I don't know, it's very nerve racking. The only reason I even introduced the crackers/biscuits is because the pedi suggested it. Let's hope it gets better as time goes on. I imagine it will be kind of embarrassing for him if he goes to elementary school still gagging on Saltines and still eating stage 2 baby foods.

Today we got a special treat. Through some friends of Jason and Kassidy we were invited to watch a Rangers game from a suite! Very cool! Hayden got all geared up for the game:

That face says, "We get to sit where? Not the triple deck? Whoa!"

Daddy also donned his best Rangers gear...

We had a lot of fun and Hayden did great. One would think this would wear him out...but it's 9:35 and he's cooing away in his crib. Time to go night, night Hayden!!!

Thanks Dawn!

We love our sweet pumpkin hat -- it goes so well with the drool on my Harley Davidson onesie!

Hayden Delivers!

With a little help from his friend, Robert Griffin III! As promised, Hayden gave his Daddy a Baylor victory over Wake Forest for his birthday -- 24 - 21!

It's the start of college football season and Daddy and Hayden couldn't be more excited. Hayden loved putting on all his Baylor gear for the game...

He looks thrilled, right? We went to Jason and Kassidy's for a housewarming/BU kick-off party. We had a lot of fun -- their house is so cute and we even made some new friends! Hayden was Mr. Personality all day and was, of course, the life of the party.

Hayden and Jason, pre-game:

I wish we had more pics from the party, but I was too busy cheering and worrying over the Baylor Bears to be much of photographer. Hayden can say this now: In his lifetime, the Baylor Bear football team is undefeated! That's not something a lot of Baylor Bears can say!

Nan also came to visit this weekend and babysat while Clark and I had a chance to eat lunch by ourselves! I think this is only our 3rd meal alone since becoming parents. We enjoyed the "baby-free" time and we know Hayden enjoyed the time with his Nan!

In other news, Hayden is still teething. I can't decide if it's the 2 bottom teeth he already has that are just coming in further or if we're working on top teeth. Regardless, the verdict is teething sucks. It turns my adorable, angelic, sweet baby into a mean, angry, miserable, Exorcist-like, demon baby. Thanks to my friend Chris, we found biter biscuits at Wal-Mart (being the snob that I am, I didn't actually GO there...I made Clark go instead. I've waged a war with Wal-Mart dating back some 4 years ago. I won't give in). The biter biscuits help, but only if they're glued to his hand 24/7. That is not possible, so instead he sticks everything else he can possibly fit into his mouth...even some things that don't fit...

Hayden doesn't see the problem:

What? He doesn't look possessed here? Oh, because the teething demon only possesses him when no one else is around. That's part of the demon's evil magic: Make Mommy and Daddy look crazy.

Next weekend we're meeting up with Emily Mulkey to take Hayden's 6 month pictures. We're so excited. She did such a great job with his newborn pics, I know the 6 month pics will be great too! Baylor is off next weekend, but on the 19th, Hayden is making his first trip to Waco to experience college football at Floyd Casey Stadium (thrilling, I know). Baylor takes on UConn. Sic Em!